Likes
-- Dallas Elmore's contributions. Bill Simmons often likes to talk about what guys bring to the table and what they take off. Tonight was Dallas's night to bring something without taking anything off. He did many things well and made the most of his 32 minutes. I really liked his ability to cut to the basket. Next year he will need to contribute like this in each game. This was a good sign he still has upside.
-- Corey Raji's backdoors cuts. Like Elmore, Corey used the most of his additional minutes. He also showed that he can finally convert close to the basket.
Dislikes
-- The Reggie Jackson drama. It's Donahue's program, so he can decide who plays when. But by doing this against Duke, you draw even more attention to the incident and make winning that much harder. I hope the team responds because right now it looks like a hollow power move.
-- Defense off of turnovers. It is one thing to turn the ball over against Duke. They gamble on D so it is expected. I do have a problem when our guys couldn't get back on the turnovers. We need to be a bit more heady in our defense. I would also like to see Donahue emphasizing transition D when facing a team that likes to run like Duke.n
-- Guys forcing shots and passes close in the paint. Some of Duke's six blocks were gifts. Too often guys forced shots close. Also puzzling were a few unnecessary extra passes in the paint. It was just one of those nights...
-- "the last two minutes of the first half at Cameron". At this point it is a cliche. Which only makes watching the Dukies pull away right before half that much more frustrating. Can't we just stall or something? We know it is coming.
While I would have liked things to be more competitive, this wasn't a bubble burster. But the next few games will determine the season. Let's rally and let's hope Reggie has some big games ahead.
Posts
16 comments:
We can't let Elmore's offensive production mask his unbelievably bad defense last night. He was responsible for at least 18 of Duke's points, if not more. I'm fine with Elmore getting more playing time, but Donahue cannot let him guard guys like Nolan Smith who just ABUSE him off the dribble. It wasn't even on switches, he was guarding him man-to-man half the time.
Benching Jackson due to effort in practice is a joke, and was simply a dumb decision by Donahue. Anyone watching BC this year knows how hard Jackson plays in games, how well he has played and how important he is to this team.
Rubin should have sat five games ago and I have no issue with starting Raji based on gameplay, but to publicly humiliate your best player who is having a first team ACC season and has already played through injury was wrong.
The team came out rattled and Reggie did not show any spark from the bench (which was disappointing). BC was a huge underdog in that game, but the early turnovers and blowout nature of the game is on Donahue.
Hopefully, Allen Iverson touches base with Donahue soon to let him know how to handle these situations in the future.
Practice? We talkin' 'bout practice, man! Practice! Practice??
Whether Donahue did the right thing or effed up here will be determined by how Reggie comes out of the chute against UNC. If he appears unmotivated, it'll be on Donahue's head, but if he lights it up ...
It looks like one of BC's prized 4* recruits, LB Graham Stewart of Connecticut, is going to go to Florida... at least that's the way it looks.
Here is a blurb from the Hartford Courant:
Xavier's Stewart Still Considering Florida
January 27, 2011|By TOM YANTZ,
Xavier's linebacker Graham Stewart, The Courant's defensive player of the year, is weighing whether to go to Florida or Boston College.
Stewart gave an oral commitment to BC, but Florida has made a late push to get the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Stewart to the Sunshine State. Stewart said Gators head coach Will Muschamp is scheduled to visit the Stewart home in Durham Friday.
"It's a hard situation, but also a good situation," Stewart said Thursday about having Florida and BC as his final choices. "I took two unofficial visits to Florida this summer. I have an offer from them. It's a great honor that they believe you can play for them."
Does anybody out there think Reggie played poorly last night? He had 2 points in the first half, 3/11 from the floor, and was never a factor--We're talking about Reggie Jackson here. Reggie plays well, we have a shot at winning--he plays like he did last night, BC gets blown out.
What's the big mystery? At Cameron nobody beats Duke without career nights from 2 of their starters...gotta have everything working and no sloppy play, bad passing and funky sporadic defense.
Yeah, Elmore's asleep at the wheel on D, but all this drama of public humiliation is jive. Reggie brings it and we win. If he can't do that against Duke...
I like G'Tech's approach to recruits who have committed but are still visiting other schools:
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson revokes scholarship of longtime DT commitment Tre Jackson (UPDATED)
2:02 pm January 27, 2011, by Michael Carvell
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson and longtime commitment Tre Jackson of Wayne County parted ways on Thursday.
Jackson confirmed via text message to the AJC that he no longer had his Georgia Tech scholarship offer because he had agreed to take an official visit to Florida State this weekend.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive tackle had been committed to Georgia Tech since last October. Jackson was approached within the last couple of weeks by FSU, among other schools.
Historically, it has been Johnson’s policy at Georgia Tech to rescind the scholarship offers of commitments who visit other schools after pledging to the Yellow Jackets.
NEWS FLASH!!!
cwm2005 has been hired to replace BC Basketball Coach Donahue. Donahue resigned making the comment",He will be a much better coach that I could ever be. He understands the game and knows our players better than anyone"
agreed that we need reggie to have a great game if we stand a chance against duke. i'm sure donahue saw it as a motivational tactic, but i think it is pretty clear that it blew up in his face. he may have gotten the same production out of reggie if he had started him, but then at least we wouldn't be having this stupid conversation.
matthew berry of ESPN has a mantra that he uses in Fantasy Football season but i think it is appropriate here: "play your studs." even in the face of bad matchups or questionable practice performance, your best players give you the best chance to win, end of story.
breaking news, right here on the blog. i wonder if your source is the same one as ATL w/ Day as OC.
the benching obviously affected Reggie's play, and Jackson missing the first 6 min of half one, 2 min of half two, certainly didn't help the team in Cameron.
missing or being late to a practice, team rules issues, etc. all of those wouldn't have me fired up. but, Dallas Elmore starting at Duke over Reggie Jackson because he "earned it in practice" is ridiculous
It is obvious from a previous game that Reggie Jackson will "shoot like a popcorn popper". Trapani had 14 at halftime and "never saw the rock" for the entire second half. Jackson wants to play pro and only thinks of himself. Trapani has other options in life. Such is the dichotomy wrapped around "racial politics" in college athletics. Was Jarod Dudley only a "minor blip" on the screen or a harbinger of the truth?
yes jbq, that's right. all black players are thugs who are lucky to have this chance and every white player is a well-rounded intellectual who enjoys dallying in the realm of athletics from time to time.
i assume you are trolling, but in the event that you aren't i wanted to make sure it was clear that i found your comment repulsive at best.
CT is JBQ you?
No no, CT actually contributes to blog dialogue.
Do I like that Jackson was benched for a biggest game? No. But respect the message that Donahue is trying to send. Why shouldn't he expect his players to put forward the best preparation in practice leading up to such a game? If they don't, why should they expect to play?
Donahue has coached about as well as any could have expected this year. He is sending a message that nobody is above the team rules. Even if we play a perfect game we are not going to beat Duke at Duke. For people to be questioning him is ridiculous especially when you do not have all the details of why he was suspended and I am thrilled to have someone that is going to stress discipline in the wake of Skinner.
ted, he wasn't suspended...just benched to start. and the reason he gave was that reggie was outplayed in practice by elmore. there was and is no hint that this was disciplinary at all. while i realize that it might be possible that reggie was out-played in practice, i have a substantial sample size of games where jackson has outplayed elmore. i know they pay donahue the big bucks, but that isn't exactly rocket science. if you think our best chance to win is with reggie taking a seat in favor of elmore, then i have a bridge in brooklyn that's for sale.
Right I meant held out to start the game. I watched the game. Donahue is not stupid. He obviously was not giving 100% effort in practice and that was why he was suspended. It sends a message to the team that no one is above the law.
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